DNK International By Xinhua
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said it has received 7.5 million U.S. dollars from the European Union to provide assistance for crisis affected people in Somalia.
The latest funding will also support the operations of the WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) across the country as millions are at risk of worsening hunger in Somalia, the WFP said in a statement issued on Monday.
El-Khidir Daloum, the WFP’s country director in Somalia, said the combined effects of drought, conflict, displacement and high food prices have left millions of Somalis facing severe hunger.
“The WFP can rapidly scale up the delivery of lifesaving food assistance. However, severe funding shortfalls have forced us to reduce the number of people who receive emergency food assistance,” Daloum said.
About 4.4 million Somalis, almost a quarter of the population, face crisis levels of food insecurity or worse according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report published in September 2025.
This includes nearly one million people in emergency hunger, an increase from 620,000 in July while malnutrition is also alarmingly high with almost half of all children malnourished and in need of urgent treatment.
The WFP said that part of the funding will back up its emergency operation to provide 60,000 people with lifesaving assistance in the form of cash to buy food and other necessities needed for survival.
Meanwhile, the funding will also support UNHAS operations, helping humanitarians from 45 organizations reach crisis affected people living in 18 remote and hard to reach areas of Somalia, said the agency.
[DNK-International@January 21,2026]
